Being Pregnant
Baby Name Riff: Bryn
Bryn means hill, and is traditionally a boys name.
There’s also Bryn Mawr.
That’s a good association for a girl, no?
Yeah, though I can’t imagine that would be Bethenny Frankel’s first choice.
Is it Dutch?
Welsh.
The other day I was in the elevator with a Jewish family, the kid’s backpacks read: Bryn and Morgan. And there I was, Welsh, with Alfred and Sylvia, two names that are not Jewish but seem to be the names of every New York Jew’s grandparents. Everyone wants to be exotic.
Celtic and Gaelic names have a WASP appeal that speaks to the underlying Jewish desire to be not Jewish.
But the actual WASPs I know are Sally, Amanda, Emily, Catherine
Basically the names of Pottery Barn Beds.
Wannabes overreach.
I also find a lot of the trendy Celtic names nauseating. Aren’t all the Orange County Housewives named Brynna and Brianna and Bryianna??
See, the Welsh are self-hating too.
We’re the Jews of the British Isles.
But Bryn is solidly handsome name. And it’s quick to say, it feels almost less than one syllable. Welsh names are not always simple: Angharad?
Elfin Faerie names.
Bryn is trying to ride the fence between faerie and preppy.
On Desperate Housewives, there’s Bree, she’s preppy. That’s a lot of housewife association.
I’m kind of against the co-opting of boys’ names for girls. Unless it’s something so firmly boy it’s cute, like Charlie or Frank
Me too.
There are so many more interesting girls’ names, why you gotta pinch from the paltry boys’ options?
Because now whenever someone tries to name their boy Bryn, some dummy’s going to bring up the baby housewife.
And what boy’s going to be happy about that?
That series can’t possibly run long enough to ruin Bryn for an entire generation.
Though maybe it will.
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4 Comments
Elizabeth commented on Jul 15 10 at 10:09 amI feel the same way about the name Fallon, which Americans seem to use exclusively for girls. It’s a derivation( and just barely, it’s so close to the original name) of Faolán, which is an Irish BOYS name dating back to the 7th century. Similar feelings arise when I, a native Irish speaker, meet someone in the States named Colleen, which is the exact equivalent of going to Japan and meeting someone who named their daughter Girl. No offense to anyone named Colleen, I think it’s very pretty once you try to think of it as a name, but calling someone Girl takes some getting used to.
Eva commented on Jul 17 10 at 8:08 pmWow. I found this post really judgmental (in a bad way) for a decision so personal. It really irritated me, actually.
caroline commented on Jul 18 10 at 12:45 pmFirst, I want to say that Bryn was chosen by Frankel to honor her husband’s deceased brother Bryan. So I think she gets a pass.
As for the post altogether, I found it pretty funny. I can’t stand when people name their kids these aristocratic WASP-y surnames that they have no connection to. I just find it so…embarrassing, really. It’s the whole “people who can afford to shop at Tiffany don’t name their kids Tiffany” axiom.
Brenda commented on Aug 04 10 at 11:26 pmInstead of judging the names that people are giving THEIR children maybe you should just worry about raising your own.
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